Electrical connector having offset contacts for minimizing or cancelling crosstalk

Abstract

Electrical connector technology is disclosed. In one example, a connector for coupling an electronics sub-assembly to an electronics assembly comprises a connector body having and a sub-assembly interface configured to electrically couple to an electronics sub-assembly. The connector has a circuit board interface configured to electrically couple to a circuit board of an electronics assembly. The connector has at least two rows of contacts configured to electrically couple the circuit board to the electronics sub-assembly. The at least two rows of contacts are aligned offset relative to each other such that any ground contact of one row avoids intersection of a plane in which any ground contact of the other row resides to at least partially cancel row-to-row crosstalk when the at least two rows of contacts are transmitting signals at a predetermined high-speed bit rate.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A high-speed connector for coupling an electronics sub-assembly to an electronics assembly, the connector comprising:
 a connector body having:
 a sub-assembly interface configured to electrically couple to an electronics sub-assembly; 
 a circuit board interface configured to electrically couple to a circuit board of an electronics assembly; and 
 at least two rows of contacts configured to electrically couple the circuit board to the electronics sub-assembly, the at least two rows of contacts aligned off-set relative to each other such that any ground contact of one row avoids vertical intersection with any ground contact of the other row to at least partially cancel row-to-row crosstalk when the at least two rows of contacts are transmitting signals at a predetermined high-speed bit rate, 
 wherein the each ground contact of one row is substantially centered between a pair of differential signal contacts of the other row. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The high-speed connector of  claim 1 , wherein said pair of differential signal contacts comprises a negative polarity contact and an adjacent positive polarity contact such that a ground contact on an opposing row facilitates a zero-sum noise scheme among said pair of adjacent signal contacts. 
     
     
       3. The high-speed connector of  claim 1 , wherein any ground contact of one row is positioned equidistance from each signal contact of said pair of differential signal contacts of the other row such that ground noise is substantially evenly distributed across said pair of differential signal contacts. 
     
     
       4. The high-speed connector of  claim 1 , wherein the contacts of one row are off-set by at least one pitch relative to the contacts of the other row. 
     
     
       5. The high-speed connector of  claim 4 , wherein the contacts of one row are off-set by approximately one and one half pitch relative to the contacts of the other row. 
     
     
       6. The high-speed connector of  claim 1 , wherein the rows of contacts are separated by at least 1.5 millimeters. 
     
     
       7. The high-speed connector of  claim 1 , wherein the rows of contacts are separated by at least 1.0 millimeters. 
     
     
       8. The high-speed connector of  claim 1 , wherein the rows of contacts are separated by a distance between 0.50 and 1.0 millimeters. 
     
     
       9. The high-speed connector of  claim 1 , wherein the at least two rows of contacts are aligned relative to each other such that any ground contact of one row is vertically aligned with at least one signal contact of a pair of differential signal contacts of the other row. 
     
     
       10. The high-speed connector of  claim 1 , wherein the connector is configured to optimize signal modulation for at least one of non-return-to-zero (NRZ), phase-shift keying (PSK), Quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), and pulse amplitude modulation (PAM) signaling. 
     
     
       11. The high-speed connector of  claim 10 , wherein the high-speed connector is configured to at least partially cancel row-to-row ground noise crosstalk. 
     
     
       12. The high-speed connector of  claim 1 , wherein the predetermined high-speed bit rate is at least 25 Gbps per-lane speed. 
     
     
       13. The high-speed connector of  claim 1 , wherein the predetermined high-speed bit rate is at least 50 Gbps per-lane speed. 
     
     
       14. The high-speed connector of  claim 1 , wherein each contact of the at least two rows of contacts comprises an elongated pin contact. 
     
     
       15. The high-speed connector of  claim 1 , wherein the connector body comprises an upper housing and a lower housing coupled together, wherein the upper housing supports a first row of contacts of the at least two rows of contacts, and the lower housing supports a second row of contacts of the at least two rows of contacts. 
     
     
       16. The high-speed connector of  claim 15 , wherein the connector body comprises a front housing and a back shell each coupled to the upper and lower housings. 
     
     
       17. An electronics assembly comprising:
 an assembly circuit board electrically coupleable to a computer system; and 
 a high-speed connector as recited in  claim 1  electrically coupled to the assembly circuit board. 
 
     
     
       18. A method of making a connector for coupling an electronics assembly to an electronics sub-assembly, the method comprising:
 forming a connector body having:
 a sub-assembly interface configured to electrically couple to an electronics sub-assembly; 
 a circuit board interface configured to electrically couple to a circuit board of an electronics assembly; and 
 at least two rows of contacts configured to electrically couple the circuit board to the electronics sub-assembly, the at least two rows of contacts aligned off-set relative to each other such that any ground contact of one row avoids vertical intersection with any ground contact of the other row to at least partially cancel row-to-row crosstalk when the at least two rows of contacts are transmitting signals at a predetermined high-speed bit rate; and 
 
 arranging each ground contact of one row substantially centered between a pair of differential signal contacts of the other row. 
 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 18 , wherein said pair of differential signal contacts comprises a negative polarity contact and an adjacent positive polarity contact such that a ground contact on an opposing row facilitates a zero-sum noise scheme among said pair of adjacent signal contacts. 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 19 , wherein any ground contact of one row is positioned equidistance from each signal contact of said pair of differential signal contacts of the other row such that ground noise is substantially evenly distributed across said pair of differential signal contacts. 
     
     
       21. The method of  claim 18 , wherein the contacts of one row are off-set by approximately one and one half pitch relative to the contacts of the other row. 
     
     
       22. The method of  claim 18 , wherein the rows of contacts are separated by a distance between 0.50 and 1.2 millimeters. 
     
     
       23. The method of  claim 18 , further comprising attaching an upper housing to a lower housing to form the connector body, wherein the upper housing supports a first row of contacts of the at least two rows of contacts, and the lower housing supports a second row of contacts of the at least two rows of contacts. 
     
     
       24. The method of  claim 23 , further comprising attaching a front housing and a back shell to the upper and lower housings.